In this week's portion, Vayechi,
we read about Joseph taking his sons to see Jacob as Jacob lay on his deathbed, and about
the blessings that Jacob offered to Joseph's sons and to all of Jacob's sons. Reading the
portion, I couldn't help noticing the invisibility of the women in this part of the story;
there's one mention of Jacob's beloved Rachel, who died in childbirth, but aside from that
there are no women here at all.

So in this week's Torah poem, I found myself exploring Asenath, the daughter of Poti-phara,
Joseph's Egyptian wife (about whom we know nothing at all except for her name and the name
of her father.) I wonder what it was like for her to marry into this family...and I wonder
whether she realized that someday Joseph's bones would be carried out of Egypt, while
her bones would be forgotten altogether.

No recording this week; sorry, gang, I'm on the road and haven't had time/space to make
the recording. (As usual, if anyone reading this wishes to record the poem, feel free.)

In this week's portion, Vayechi,
we read about Joseph taking his sons to see Jacob as Jacob lay on his deathbed, and about
the blessings that Jacob offered to Joseph's sons and to all of Jacob's sons. Reading the
portion, I couldn't help noticing the invisibility of the women in this part of the story;
there's one mention of Jacob's beloved Rachel, who died in childbirth, but aside from that
there are no women here at all.

So in this week's Torah poem, I found myself exploring Asenath, the daughter of Poti-phara,
Joseph's Egyptian wife (about whom we know nothing at all except for her name and the name
of her father.) I wonder what it was like for her to marry into this family...and I wonder
whether she realized that someday Joseph's bones would be carried out of Egypt, while
her bones would be forgotten altogether.

No recording this week; sorry, gang, I'm on the road and haven't had time/space to make
the recording. (As usual, if anyone reading this wishes to record the poem, feel free.)